Summary
Call of Duty Zombiesbegan its journey inCall of Duty: World at War, and saw its great return inCall of Duty: Black Ops. This version of zombies kept the same grit and horror, with a fun campy twist by providing a colorful cast to play and wild scenarios spanning from abandoned government facilities to ancient cities.
Each map ranges in difficulty and features unique devices and weapons to interact with, many of which were innovative for its time. The following will rank all the zombie maps found inBlack Opsby their thrilling qualities and content packed within.
10Nacht Der Untoten
The Zombie House
Nacht der Untoten, or Night of the Dead, is a classic zombie map fromCall of Duty: World at War, polished and ported intoBlack Ops. This map is super simple, involving only three rooms to travel into outside of the starting one. The best part about this map is the consistent mystery box in the first purchased room, and the musical easter egg that plays “Undone” by Kevin Sherwood.
The biggest challenge in Nacht der Untoten is surviving in a claustrophobic setting. On top of how little area exists to run around in, zombies can burst through several entryways, with a few that don’t have barriers. Even though there areno additions to the lore, this simplistic map still hits the spot for a zombie invasion.
9Verruckt
Insanity In A Sanatorium
Verruckt also comes fromWorld at Warand features more ground to cover. This map, aptly named Verruckt, takes place in an asylum, with similarly tight corridors as Nacht der Untoten. There are a lot more opportunities to run circles around zombies and set traps.
The biggest difference between this map and the previous is the difficulty of surviving. The power is also on the opposite side away from spawn, so even buying perks and powering traps is a thrilling challenge to begin.
8Der Riese
The Rising Giant
Der Riese, or “The Giant,” is another map fromWorld at War, and offers more space to run around in than the previously mentioned maps. It’s also the onlyWorld at Warmap with pack-a-punch and teleporters. The process of getting to pack-a-punch is an early example of classicCoD Zombies, requiring players to connect all three teleporters to a mainframe to access it.
There are a few places to train zombies, but many tight corridors to get stuck. There are also hidden radios scattered across the map for any lore buffs, which tell stories about the rise of the zombies. Der Riese is a fun challenge in a bleak image of Berlin, with plenty of Hellhounds to keep players on their toes.
7Shi No Numa
Zombie Infested Swamp
Shi No Numa means “Swamp of Death” in Japanese, and also comes fromWorld at War. This is one of the biggest maps fromWorld at War, with five main buildings and four unlockable swamp areas connecting them in between. Theperk-a-cola machinesand mystery box spawn randomly, which makes tracking down a strategy a bit of a challenge in the beginning.
A unique weapon can be found in the mystery box, the Wunderwaffe DG-2, which is an electricity-casting weapon capable of killing up to 10 zombies at once. There are many areas to train zombies and gateways with traps that have the power to decimate waves of them. This is one of the most fun maps ported fromWaW, but beware, walking in the swamps means sluggishly walking into the horde.
6Five
Defending The Pentagon
“Five” is a wonderfully strange scenario involving the playable characters, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Robert McNamara, and Fidel Castro, as a team of survivors trapped in the Pentagon while zombies break in. This map features the use of elevators and tight corridors in the government complex, with a DEFCON control system in the largest room on the map. When all four switches are flipped, DEFCON level 5 makes all teleporters lead to the pack-a-punch/panic room.
This map alsofeatures a unique weapon, Winter’s Howl, which freezes zombies over in ice, and when pack-a-punched, becomes Winter’s Fury, doing even more damage. And instead of Hellhounds, the Pentagon Thief appears after the power is turned on, and will attempt to steal players’ weapons. Killing him before he gets away gives the weapons back, so sticking together in co-op mode here is essential.
5Shangri La
A Legendary Labyrinth
Shangri-La is the fourth map in the story following the original four characters,Nikolai, Dempsey, Takeo, and Richtofen, just after they teleported away from the Siberian facility in Call of the Dead. Shangri-La features a gorgeous ancient city with tight corridors and a tough challenge for even experienced players.
This is the first map to feature napalm zombies which burst into flames once killed, shrieker zombies that temporarily blind the player if they shriek too close, and zombie monkeys which replace the Hellhounds and are easy to kill but hard to hit. There is also a major easter egg that is important to see for anyone wanting deeper lore.
4Call Of The Dead
George Romero’s Nightmare
Call of the Dead sees playersassume the roles of celebritiesSarah Michelle Gellar, Robert Englund, Michael Rooker, and Danny Trejo. A zombified George A. Romero walks around as a special boss that spawns in the first round. His menacing slow pace and berserk outbursts can be matched with better weaponry down the line.
This is the third largest map inBlack Ops Zombiesand features many places to explore in a frozen tundra, an abandoned freighter, and a lighthouse. A zipline and flinger platform can launch players great distances to jump away from zombies in a pitch. Call of the Dead plays into the zombie movie tropes very well, providing a gritty and oddly comical approach to horror.
3Kino der Toten
The Theatrical Undead
Kino der Toten, or Cinema of the Dead, is the first map to come withBlack Ops Zombies, featuring the original four characters boarded up in an abandoned theater in 1960s Berlin. It has a very simple design and provides several ways to train zombies despite a few dangerous corridors. There is an awesome easter egg involving finding three meteorite shards and plays the heavy metal track “115” by Kevin Sherwood & Elena Siegman once found.
This map includes everything seen in Der Riese; the Bowie Knife, teleporters, pack-a-punch machine, monkey bombs, and a new Thundergun weapon that is basically cheat mode. Kino der Toten is primeCoDZombies, it allows players to progress quickly and set up a plan to rotate between pack-a-punching weapons and training zombies.
2Ascension
Counting Down To The Apocalypse
Ascension is the second map in the original four’s story, taking place at the same time as “Five” as heard through three red telephones scattered around the map. This is one of the best zombie maps, with plenty of places to train and an objective that isn’t overly complicated. After finding all three lunar landers (this map’s version of teleporters), and flipping a lever in the same room the power is in, players can launch a rocket that opens up pack-a-punch and a new area to run around in.
The creative decisions in Ascension are awesome, as the map begins in black and white, and the color comes back once the power is turned on. Instead of Hellhound rounds,space monkeys come down and wreak havocon perk-a-cola machines, removing any purchased perks if players are unsuccessful at stopping them.
1Moon
Area 51 & The Moon Base
Moon is the final and largest map in the original four’s story inBlack Ops. It starts in Area 51, where Hellhounds spawn with zombies in an endless horde, getting progressively stronger every second until players either die or teleport to the moon where the main map is. This map features winding corridors in a moon base, with a massive biodome with launch pads. Despiteits complicated size, this is the best zombie map inBlack Ops Zombies.
A spooky astronaut walks around slowly and headbutts and teleports players to the first moon base room if they get too close. This map also features the Wave Gun, which can swap between two-handed and dual-wielding modes, and the Quantum Entanglement Device, which is a tactical grenade that spawns a black hole sucking zombies in. Moon also has a major easter egg that gives insight into important lore - it involves a lot of steps and accumulates in launching rockets toward Earth, which players can travel back to Area 51 and see the aftermath first-hand.
